The present invention relates generally to media delivery methods, and more particularly to a method of gathering and utilizing demographic information from a request-based media delivery method.
An ongoing difficulty in delivering media content is matching the interests and preferences of the audience with the needs and objectives of the sponsors. Audience members often view the sponsors"" commercials as wasted time between music, sports, news or commentary. Conversely, sponsors"" view the music, sports, news or commentary as wasted time between the broadcast of their commercials. Audience members want to see and hear content that matches their tastes and sponsors want to reach audience members that are most apt to purchase their products and services. However, determining the demographics of audience members has been traditionally difficult to achieve with acceptable precision and accuracy.
Another problem with calculating demographics is the dynamic nature of audience groups. For example, the demographics for a particular radio station may change depending on the hour of the day or the day of the week. Students in school may not be permitted to listen to the radio during classroom instruction. Therefore, during school hours, the number of younger listeners may drop while the number of older listeners who tune in during work may rise. Likewise, during the weekend when students are not in school, the number of younger listeners may be much higher than at the same time of day on a school day. This shift in demographics is important to sponsors so they may reach their intended audience while that audience is tuned in.
Another problem with delivering media content is the significant overhead required to operate the enterprise. A great deal of the operations are repetitious in nature, yet most broadcast entities must pay disc jockeys, support personnel, news anchors and the like significant salaries to provide such services.
Another problem with media delivery operations is that content providers, such as music companies, often have difficulty in determining their demographics from the limited information provided by current operations. For example, radio stations may provide the content providers with the number of requests they receive for a particular song. However, the radio stations typically take the request telephonically without inquiring as to the demographic information of the requestor such as age, gender, residential location, and the like. Therefore, content providers do not possess this demographic information which may be used to further their marketing efforts in other settings such as retail or online sales.
Consequently, there is a need in the art to provide audience members with a meaningful opportunity to select the media content they wish to see and hear.
There is a further need in the art to provide broadcast entities with a efficient and reliable broadcast method with greatly reduced operating costs.
There is a further need in the art to provide sponsors with demographic information on the audience of the broadcast entities in order to target the appropriate product or service to those audience members.
There is a further need in the art to provide content providers with demographic information on the relative popularity of their content.
However, in view of the prior art in at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the identified needs could be fulfilled.
The above and other objects of the invention are achieved in the embodiments described herein by a method of delivering media content comprising the steps of creating a membership database, obtaining requests for content from individuals registered in the database, broadcasting the most requested content and analyzing the demographic information of the individuals to associate and target advertising and information dissemination.
Creating the membership database comprises the steps of obtaining an array of demographic information from an individual. This array may include such variables as age, sex, residential location by zip code, and income level. It is preferable that this information be kept confidential and that the individual entering the information understand the confidentiality measures to insure an open and truthful disclosure of such demographic information. Once the array of demographic information is assembled for the individual, a unique membership ID is assigned to that individual. The unique membership ID may include a password to insure the validity of its use. The unique membership ID is associated with the array of demographic information for that user and stored in a membership database.
The demographic information may be gathered by a number of mediums. In one embodiment of the invention, the demographic information is obtained by telephonic means comprising the steps of accepting an incoming telephone call from a telephone caller and prompting the caller to relay an array of demographic information. For example, a telephone control system prompts the user for their age. The caller then enters in their age by depressing the corresponding numerals on a touch-tone telephone. The telephone produces dual-tone multi-frequency signals (xe2x80x9cDTMFxe2x80x9d) which are interpreted by the telephone control system and stored in the membership database. A unique membership ID may then be read back to the caller by voice synthesis.
An alternative method of gathering the demographic information utilizes a data network connection such as the Internet. One or more form-based interfaces are enabled on a data network. The interface may be a propriety client-server model or a standardized interface such as HTML used on the World Wide Web. A network user accesses the interface is prompted for an array of demographic information. Once the network user posts his or her entries, a membership ID is transmitted to the network user by electronic mail.
Once an individual""s demographic information is obtained and a method of identifying the individual is established from the unique membership ID, the next step is to permit the individual to select the media content they wish to see or hear. The media content may include audio broadcasts of music, weather, news, or sports. It may also include delivering video segments such as movies, music videos, weather broadcasts or educational videos. The delivery may be from a traditional radio frequency transmission such as radio, or may include alternative mediums such as satellite, cellular, or data communication pathways. The delivery may take place on a closed, private network or via an open network such as the Internet.
Obtaining a request for media content comprises the steps of identifying the individual from the unique membership ID and prompting the individual for the selection of a media segment from a catalog database. The catalog database is a collection of available media content in digital form. For example, audio content may be stored in MP3, WAV, or other digital audio formats. Video segments may be stored as AVI, MPEG or the like. By storing the media content in digital format, a plurality of individual media segments may be later assembled into a seamless broadcast.
Once the individual has selected a media segment from a catalog database, the next step is associating the media segment and the individual""s array of demographic information in a request database. This association will be analyzed to determine a correlation between the individual""s array of demographic information and the type of media content that individual prefers.
Broadcasting the media content comprising the first step of first accessing the request database. It is anticipated that a plurality of requests will exist for the same media segment. A predetermined formula is applied to the information in the request database to determine which of the most requested media segments are assembled into a play list. The predetermined formula may restrict the number of times a popular media segment may be replaying during a set period of time. The play list is then assembled from the catalog database based on the predetermined formula. The play list is then broadcast through the appropriate medium.
Because the demographic information of the audience is monitored dynamically, a unique opportunity exists for sponsors to optimally target their products and services. Based on known demographic patterns, individual commercial segments are interspersed at predetermined intervals within the play list. A preferred embodiment of broadcasting the individual commercial segments comprises the steps of associating a demographic value with an individual commercial segment, analyzing the play list for one or more common demographic values of the individuals who requested the media segments in the play list and broadcasting the individual commercial segments whose demographic values most closely match the common demographic values of the individuals who requested the media segments in the play list. In a preferred embodiment, the number of instances the individual commercial segment is played is recorded. The opportunity for an individual commercial segment to be inserted into the play list may be restricted by a predetermined formula.
In many circumstances, it will be preferable or even required to intersperse a system identifier at predetermined intervals within the play list. For example, government regulations may require the broadcast entity to periodically identify itself to its audience members. A variable may be associated with the system identifier that tracks the time and frequency that the system identifier is broadcast. The variable is monitored to ensure that the system identifier is inserted into the play list with the desired frequency.
Similar to the insertion of the system identifier, public service announcements may be inserted at predetermined intervals within the play list. A plurality of preset public service announcements may be stored in the catalog database for intelligent insertion into the play list according to the demographics of the current audience members. For example, a public service announcement relating to attending school on a regular basis may be inserted into the play list should a demographics analysis of the request database indicate that the audience members are of a group that should be attending school. A variable may also be assigned to the public service announcements to insure that are played with a predetermined frequency.
Prerecorded news updates may be interspersed at predetermined intervals within the play list. The news updates may also be associated with a particular demographic target. Thus, the demographics of the current audience may be determined dynamically and news updates appropriate to that demographic are inserted into the play list. For example, should the demographics indicate a high number of audience members within a particular zip code, a news update may be provided that provides information relevant to that locality.
Prerecorded news updates may be obtained from a number of sources. In one embodiment of the invention, a media upload from an authorized user is inserted into the play list. The media upload may be sent through a digital connection for direct insertion. However, should the media upload be in an analog format, the analog media segment is converted to a digital media segment and inserted into the play list. In one embodiment, the media upload may be delivered electronically through a network interface from a verified source across a data connection using standard protocols such as IPX or TCP. Once received, the media segment is inserted into the play list. Alternatively, the media upload may be delivered telephonically wherein an authorized user depresses buttons on a touch tone telephone thereby creating DTMF signals. The DTMF signals validate the authorized user""s identity. The authorized user then audibly records a media segment over the telephone line. Once completed, the authorized user may depress a button to store, delete, or replay the media segment. The authorized user may also depress touch tone buttons to select additional options such as scheduling the time of insertion of the media segment into the play list, scheduling the frequency in which the media segment is played, and scheduling the date or time in which the media segment expires. In a preferred embodiment, the media segments are time-stamped wherein out-of-date media segments are not inserted into the play list.
In a preferred embodiment, the demographic information associated with the play list is recorded into a history file. The history file may be analyzed by the broadcasting entity, the sponsors and the content providers to more efficiently provide goods and services to the audience members. Remote supervision and control of the delivery of media content may be maintained via a network connection to a remotely located network operations center. Monitoring the operations of the broadcast entity permits multiple broadcast entities to efficiently and reliable function automatically thereby greatly reducing the operating expense. More particularly, offloading the membership-associated functions to the remotely located network operations center has the benefit of creating a larger demographic analysis from a plurality of broadcast entities.
An object of this invention is to provide audience members with a meaningful opportunity to select the content they wish to see and hear.
Another object of this invention is to provide broadcast entities with an efficient and reliable broadcast system with greatly reduced operating costs.
Another object of this invention is to provide sponsors with demographic information on the audience of the broadcast entities in order to target the appropriate product or service to those audience members.
Another object of this invention is to provide content providers with demographic information on the relative popularity of their content.
An advantage of the invention is that audience members are able to choose the media content they wish to see and hear.
Another advantage of the invention is that broadcast entities may function efficiently and reliably with greatly reduced operating costs.
Another advantage of the invention is that sponsors may obtain valuable demographic information on audience members in order to properly target their products and services to those listeners most apt to become customers.
Another advantage of the invention is that content providers may retrieve demographic information on the relative popularity of their materials.
These and other important objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become clear as this description proceeds.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the description set forth hereinafter and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.